Ten years later and Aunty Pat is in her prime. She’s snagged herself an ex rock star At The Kendal Folk Festival and now, in the brave new world of the early 1980s they manage together a snazzy hotel on the poetic and shingly shore of Lake Grasmere. However, still waters run deep and friends from the past are returning, intent on milking the old cash-cow.

Mervyn Urquhart and Humphrey Mims drive to a location in the Lake District while listening to the latest version of the song “Falling Star” on the radio. Mims says he prefers this remix as it’s really commercial and you can dance to it, but Urquhart says it’s also the most annoying version and he switches it off. He tells Mims to remember they have a very particular mission to carry out and the person they’re hoping to convince has always been very volatile. They arrive At The Bygones Guest House near Lake Grasmere and Mims thinks it looks like a rather pleasant hotel. Urquhart reminds Mims to act “normal” and rebukes him when he calls him by his real name, Second-in-Command Urtak. Mims is starting to like his own name and rolls the words around his tongue.

Over dinner inside the hotel, the Doctor tries to convince Lucie that he really was with Wordsworth when he did the first draft of his most famous poem, but Lucie thinks he’s making it all up. The years is 1984 and the Doctor admits that he misjudged the co-ordinates slightly, but Lucie is more concerned about the fact that They’ve bumped into her Aunty Pat again. They agree that The TARDIS must have a thing about Pat as it seems to take them to significant points in her life.

Urquhart and Mims check in at reception, claiming to be here on business. Pat welcomes them and arranges a twin-bedded room At Their request. Mims’ attention is immediately taken by the “charming“ necklace that Pat is wearing and she tells him it was a gift from her husband Trevor. Urquhart tells her they’re both in the pop music industry and Pat wonders if they’ve come to the Lake District for the annual Folk Festival at Kendal, the place where she met her husband. Urquhart surprises her by saying they already know all about her husband and says they’re former colleagues. Pat calls for Trevor to come and meet his old friends, but when Mim gets impatient and starts making demands, Urquhart kicks him and apologises for his friend’s over excited behaviour. Trevor was having a snooze in the back room, but when he sees the two new guests, he’s dumbstruck. Urquhart says it’s marvellous to see him again, but Trevor is openly hostile and refuses to return the greeting. Pat is confused and asks who the two gentlemen are and Trevor says they’re from his old record company, Satsuma. Mims says they need him to make a comeback, but Trevor is quite happy here with his new life as a hotelier. Mims tells him they’ve just released a remix of his record and they expect it to shoot straight to the top, but Trevor insists his life in showbiz ended nearly twenty years ago and he’s not the same person any more. Pat steps in and tells the visitors they’ve had a wasted journey, but Urquhart is certain he and Mims will be able to change Trevor’s mind. As Pat takes them up to their room, Trevor swears that They’ll never take him back, at least not without an unholy fight.

The Doctor is genuinely impressed by the Bygones Guest House. Even though he thinks people shouldn’t be judged on material success, he recalls Lucie telling him her Aunty Pat never amounted to much. Lucie says she’s just as amazed because she never knew her aunt owned a hotel back in the 80s, nor did she say anything about being married. Pat joins them and she doesn’t look too pleased. She notes that The Doctor and Lucie both look exactly the same as when they last met ten years ago and she’s started to associate them with trouble and monsters. Lucie points out that There’s supposed to be a monster in Lake Grasmere, according to the chambermaid, but the Doctor insists they’ve come here to see Aunty Pat and for the poetry and scenery, not to investigate rumours of monsters. Pat still finds all this time travel business confusing and says that in the “real world” Lucie still hasn’t been born yet. Without thinking, Lucie blurts out that she never knew Pat had been a successful married businesswoman back in the 80s, and although the Doctor tries to stop her, the damage has been done. Pat realises she won’t be happy or successful in the future and asks Lucie if she’d mind shutting her gob about her future in future. Lucie changes the subject and asks when they can meet her Uncle Trevor, but Pat says he’s in a bit of a bad mood tonight and wasn‘t very happy to see two of his old business associates. She says Trevor was a folk singer during the 1960s and had a few hits, and although he long ago turned his back on all that, Pat hopes the royalty cheques from the remix will sort out their retirement. Despite that, she says Trevor looked uneasy, as if he’s scared of confronting the person he was back then…

Later, Lucie asks the Doctor why Aunty Pat kept quiet about this part of her life. Before he can answer, they see the two new guests arriving, so they hide behind a nearby curtain and eavesdrop on their conversation. Mr Mims is telling Mr Urquhart that he’s surveyed the whole area and the room underneath the lounge bar looks very suspicious. Also, he’s learned that Trevor goes down to the lake every evening in order to imbibe supplies. Urquhart congratulates him on his work and they decide to take a stroll together in the moonlight down by the lakeside. When they’ve gone, the Doctor and Lucie agree that They make a funny pair. Lucie thinks someone should keep an eye on them, and although they’re supposed to be on holiday she decides to follow them. She tells the Doctor she’ll meet him back here at midnight.

Later, Lucie finds herself sheltering behind some bushes as the side of the lake. Urquhart and Mims arrive and reveal this is the area where Trevor is said to collect his supplies. To Lucie’s amazement and horror, they’re joined by a third colleague who is clearly alien. This is a female Zygon known as Grakus, who greets her colleagues and confirms that she observed their target earlier this evening. Urquhart instructs her to summon the beast again as he and Mims need to take their fill too. She accepts Second-in-Command Urtak’s order and activates a device that will bring the creature from its nest deep in the catacombs. Lucie realises Aunty Pat is going to go mad when she discovers all these monsters on her own doorstep. Moments later there’s a huge splash in the lake and a terrific bellowing noise fills the air. A huge Skarasen emerges from the dark water and moves over to join the three Zygons. It’s been many years since Urtak and the others have seen her in the flesh and they stand back to admire her beauty. Now they can imbibe the necessary supplies fresh, there’s no need for them to take powdered substitutes. Mims is given the honour of drawing out the lactic fluid which Lucie thinks is the most disgusting thing she’s ever seen. In her distress, she accidentally steps on a twig, which snaps loudly. The Zygons realise they’re being observed and Lucie has no choice but to come out into the open. Mims recognises her from the hotel and Grakus accuses her of spying on them. Lucie claims she came down here innocently for some fresh air, but Urtak grabs her and tells her she shouldn’t have disturbed them during their feasting. They tell her they can’t let her go and move in to surround her…

Later, Lucie returns to the Doctor At The hotel. It’s gone closing time in the bar and everyone seems to have gone to bed, so she decides to help herself to a drink. The Doctor is amazed when she pours herself half a pint of vodka and knocks it back in one go. He asks her what she discovered, but she tells him the new arrivals are just ordinary businessmen. However, she suggests they check the cellar…

As they descend the steps, the Doctor wonders why Lucie’s brought him down here as he hates thinking the worst of people and doesn’t like the idea that she suspects Trevor. It’s quite bright down here and Lucie wonders if someone left the lights on, but the Doctor says it’s pulsating red and green and thinks it might be a disco. They cross to the far end of the room and discover Trevor – the real Trevor – encased inside a body-print machine that enables the user to make and wear a perfect replica of someone else‘s physical form. Trevor isn’t dead, only hibernating, but there’s no clue as to how long he’s been here and it could have been years. The Doctor says they have to keep him here in order to refresh the body-print to prevent the copy running out of juice. He’s seen this before and he tells Lucie the machine belongs to hideous foetus warlords from the deepest, murkiest fathoms of space. These creatures have lost their own homeworld and have tried twice before to steal the Earth. They’re Zygons and Lucie’s poor Aunty Pat is married to one! Lucie says they must tell her at once, even though it’ll be a terrible shock, but the Doctor decides to leave it until the morning.

The next morning Aunty Pat arranges for the Doctor and Lucie to have their breakfast in private rather than with the other guests. The Doctor casually hints that he’s surprised to see she’s moved on from her music days to running a guest house, but Pat says she and Trevor still like to think Of themselves as being radical. They may have settled down, but they still do their bit for the environment and Trevor refuses to have a car as he hates anything mucking up the atmosphere. Lucie says she has some questions for her aunt and reveals that Trevor has something terrible hidden in the cellar. Pat says she and Trevor respect each other’s private space and that she knows everything about him that she needs to know, but the Doctor advises her to brace herself for a shock. Lucie announces that Trevor is an alien, a Zygon warlord trapped here on Earth and planning to take over the world, but Pat surprises them both by revealing that she knew that. She says she’s dated far worse in the past and explains that when you really love someone you accept their foibles and funny habits. In fact, she’s more surprised to find the Doctor and Lucie showing prejudice against aliens. The Doctor insists that all Zygons are evil, but Pat challenges that and then calls her husband in to meet them. She tells him they know he’s a Zygon and that They seem really down about it.

Lucie tries to assure Pat that she doesn’t know what she’s letting herself in for, but Pat reminds her they’ve been married since 1979. The Doctor asks about the real Trevor in the body-print machine down in the cellar, but Pat doesn’t know anything about that. Trevor arrives and the Doctor and Lucie immediately turn on him and warn him he won’t get away with it, but Trevor assures them he’s not up to anything and that he doesn’t plan to take over the world. The Doctor doesn’t believe him, but Trevor points out that he’s been here for years and he loves this planet and the human race, but most of all he loves Pat. Lucie wonders whether Pat minds what Trevor looks like under his stolen human disguise, but Trevor proves this isn’t an issue by changing back into his Zygon form before their eyes. Pat hugs him and says she’s used to it, but Lucie refuses to believe Trevor loves her and she storms out. The Doctor finally believes them and apologises for Lucie’s behaviour, admitting that she hasn’t been herself today. Trevor plans to return to his paperwork and Pat hastily warns him to change back to his human appearance if he’s going back to the reception desk.

In their hotel room, Urtak reports that The Skarasen has returned to the ship beneath the lake, so phase three can now begin. He orders Mims to retrieve the Zygon device from Pat, but then there’s a knock on the door. Lucie enters and transforms back into her true appearance – that of the Zygon Grakus. She says she’s revealed to her ’Aunty Pat’ that Trevor is a Zygon, but instead of shrieking herself into gibbering insanity as they’d expected, it turns out she already knew. When they learn that Warlord Haygoth, to give Trevor his real name, is in love with the Earth woman, they assume he’s forgotten the Zygon way and must be on the verge of betraying them. Urtak decides to accelerate phase three and phase four, but Lucie/Grakus thinks it’s time they did something about ‘Aunty’ Pat too…

When the remix of her husband’s old song “Falling Star” is played on the radio, Pat calls for him to come and listen as it‘s risen to number four in the charts. Mims joins her, but she tells him guests aren’t allowed in the kitchen. He apologises and says he was attracted by the song, adding that it’s making them all rich. He tells her he admires Pat’s necklace and says it’s very unusual. Pat says she wears it all the time and that Trevor gave it to her At The Kendal Folk Festival in 1979. The necklace looks almost alive and has a strange texture to it, but then suddenly Mims becomes aggressive and tells Pat it belongs to the Zygons and is part of their future plans. He tries to snatch it from around her neck, but when she cries out in pain, he soon realises the necklace has fused itself to her flesh. He realises he has no choice but to take Pat with him and he warns her to prepare for a faint stinging sensation. She screams out Trevor’s name, then falls unconscious into Mims’ arms.

Trevor blames himself for going for a walk and realises the Zygons could have taken his wife hours ago. Lucie offers him a brandy, but he turns it down so she drinks it herself. Trevor reveals that The necklace he gave Pat as a love token is really a Zygon device which he gave to her for safe keeping as he knew he’d never willingly resume command of their ship. He says the Zygons are based at Ullswater, which is five miles away or only three miles if you go underground as they would have done. Trevor is bitter that he couldn’t take Pat away from here, but as a Zygon he was dependent on the milk the Skarasen produces. He arranged for the creature to ’chew’ a tunnel under the mountains between Ullswater and Grasmere and says it’s programmed to obey his orders above all others. The Doctor wonders if the other Zygons just wanted the device and the money from the record sales so they could fix up their ship, in which case they may just go home, but Trevor is convinced they’ll have some further terrible plan and they’ll need him as their Warlord to implement it. It’s getting dark so the Doctor suggests they find the tunnel, but Lucie says she isn’t sure she can trust Trevor.

Urtak and Mims return to their natural Zygon state, relishing the opportunity to be free of their ungainly and undignified human forms. Urtak is intrigued that Pat hasn’t become a shrieking basket case as so many other humans have done in the past, but she tells him she’s seen it all before. She knows of Trevor’s history because when you love someone you get to know all about them. Mims is unfamiliar with the term ’love’, but Pat tells him it’s the most important thing in the world. Urtak says the pop charts are filled with such sentimental nonsense and believes it’s all a money-making scam created by the humans. Even if Pat has deluded herself that she really loves Warlord Haygoth, Urtak is certain Haygoth doesn’t love her the same way. Pat becomes angry and dismisses them as underground trolls, then she demands to be taken back. Mims believes she’s becoming hysterical so Urtak orders him to sting her into unconsciousness again. Mims wonders if any Zygon has experienced love before, but Urtak doesn’t think so. Even when Zygons assume the hideous appearances and gestures of the human form, they’ve never gone so far as to mimic their disgusting emotions. Mims isn’t so sure and says he may himself have experienced the first stirrings of emotion, so Urtak decides it would be best if they hurry back to their ship where he can truly return to the Zygon way of life. They’ve been away from their ship for ten years and now they can see just how much it’s grown back and repaired itself. They activate a hidden door in the tunnel wall and return home at last…

Trevor leads the Doctor and Lucie to the mouth of the tunnel. Lucie bellows “hello” At The top of her voice, until the Doctor advises her to keep quiet. She suggests they go in, so the Doctor allows her to lead the way, hoping the Skarasen will be off visiting its Scottish pal. Lucie asks why no one’s noticed there’s a great big dinosaur padding around in Grasmere and Trevor confirms there have been sightings in the past. In fact, it’s helped the tourist business and visitors flock to stay At Their guest house. The Doctor is surprised that Lucie doesn’t remember it being mentioned at dinner last night, but she changes the subject and asks where the tunnel goes. Trevor says it goes deep into the mountain and then up into the bottom of Ullswater where it connects to the Zygon ship. The Skarasen has a hatchway through which it secretes its lactic fluid to the crew. He says the ship was badly damaged when they crash landed and they had to hibernate for many years. The Doctor guesses it must have been around the same time as the Scottish clan. Trevor says he knows what his race are like and one of his main reasons for avoiding them is that he doesn’t want to revert to their terrible ways. Lucie is curious about how the Doctor defeated the Zygons before, but he claims he can’t remember as he’s foiled so many races. Suddenly they hear the bellowing of the Skarasen and Trevor realises it must have their scent. Lucie suggests hiding, but the huge creature appears in the tunnel and the Doctor quickly whips out his sonic screwdriver to confuse the electronic half of its body. Lucie becomes angry and accuses the Doctor of leading them to their death…

Mims reports to Second-in-Command Urtak that The Skarasen has located the intruders. They activate the scanner and watch as the Doctor and Warlord Haygoth seem about to die, but Mims points out that Grakus is also vulnerable while she’s in human form. Urtak considers calling the beast off, but he knows the Skarasen has been a long time without a kill and decides to let the creature toy with them first. Mims wonders whether Urtak’s sadism is a human trait, but Urtak says he’s always been like this. He orders guards to go into the tunnel and bring out the intruders and tells Mims to welcome their Warlord back.

Lucie tells the Doctor and Trevor they should get to the safety of the ship, but Trevor believes he can control the Skarasen as it’s attuned to his very being. He reverts back to his natural Zygon form and declares himself to be Warlord Haygoth. He makes mental contact with the creature and sends it away, but as it turns in the narrow tunnel, its tail whiplashes Lucie and she’s thrown against the wall. The Doctor rushes to help her, but despite the fact that she’s bleeding, she angrily orders him to get his hands off her. Just then, Mim arrives in the tunnel and welcomes his Warlord home.

Pat wakes up groggily and Urtak tells her she’s inside the most sophisticated and powerful spaceship in the galaxy. When she says the structure looks like raw liver, he says she’s too ugly to appreciate true beauty. An alarm sounds and Mims reports that he’s brought the Warlord back. Pat shouts out to Trevor that it’s a trap, but Urtak orders her to be silent. Mims is told to take the captives to the cells, but Pat asks if she can see her husband first. Urtak dismisses her wishes and says her tiny human mind cannot fathom the complex loyalties and desires of the Zygons. He believes Haygoth has been confused and their aim is to help him think straight again.

As the group is thrown into the cells, the Doctor points out that There’s no need to bully them, but Mims says this is the Zygon way. He asks Haygoth why he’s gone back to his human form again and Trevor says it’s a deliberate insult to the other Zygons as he doesn’t wish to be associated with them. The Doctor suddenly demands to know whAt They’ve done with the real Lucie, and when ’Lucie’ asks him what he means, he tells her she can stop pretending now. He knows she hasn’t been herself since last night after she followed the two businessmen down to the lakeside. Grakus congratulates him and reverts back to her Zygon form. Mims welcomes her back and spots that she’s injured, but she says it’s superficial and all she needs is some healing slime. The Doctor realises they must have a body-print room somewhere on the ship where they keep all the originals. He and Trevor demand to know that Lucie and Pat are safe and Grakus confirms that They are, but says she’s curious to know how the Doctor knows so much about the Zygons. She correctly guesses that he encountered the group in Scotland, but he tells her there was also another group down South in the 19th century. In fact, he tells her there are a number of Zygon ships on these isles and this group is by no means alone. Grakus leaves, but warns the Doctor he will regret mocking the Zygon cause.

Once they’re alone, the Doctor starts tampering with the door controls. He’s sure the Zygons need them for some reason, so they’re unlikely to be shut up for long. As his sonic screwdriver disables the alarms, he tells Trevor they’ll need to discuss what’s going to happen to the real Trevor in the boy-print machine back At The hotel. The Warlord says Trevor’s real dead and frozen after a motorcycle accident back in the late 60s. His record company hushed it up and put his body in cryogenic suspension as he requested in his will. Trevor has been in this body for nearly a quarter of a century. The Doctor apologises and admits that he’d made assumptions. In return for the release of Lucie and Pat, the Doctor will offer the Zygons all his skills and resources to help get their ship working again so they can leave Earth and find somewhere more suitable. Trevor assures him the Zygons won’t just meekly shuffle off and they’ve already got their mean little eyes set on having this planet. They fully intend to adapt the Earth to their own needs via massive environmental changes. Through global warming, the climate is already becoming more amenable to the Zygons every day, but they want to accelerate those changes which is why they went into big business. They’ve branched out from the music industry and for decades now they’ve been investing heavily in industrial projects all over the world. They’ve been encouraging the unleashing of modified CFCs into the atmosphere and everything they’ve funded and manufactured has had the twin objective of raising cash to fund the repairs to their equipment and also to further damage the ozone layer. This is the 1980s and because it’s all being done in the spirit of free enterprise, the people of Earth have just let it happen. Even compact discs, which they’ve been encouraging everyone to buy, emit an invisible gas when they’re played which are crippling the planet. Urtak and Mims also have biochemical warheads aboard the ship and phase five of their plan is to detonate the gases in the atmosphere. However, they’re missing a vital component – a crystal lattice which Trevor removed from the torpedo tubes some time ago…

Mims brings the real Lucie before Urtak and she’s reunited with her Aunty Pat. Lucie is upset that They’d made a copy of her and used it to lure the Doctor and Trevor here, but Pat tells her not to blame herself. The Zygons order them to cease their whining. Pat tells Lucie they want her husband to go back to them, but Urtak says they’ll all have a part to play in the coming hours. He reveals that Pat has something about her person that is vital to the Zygon cause and Pat realises he means the necklace Trevor gave her. Unfortunately she can’t give it up even if she wants to because it’s fused to her flesh. Lucie doesn’t want to die and pleads with Pat to hand it over. She literally tries to rip it from Pat’s body, but as the older woman struggles, Lucie becomes increasingly hostile and then reverts back to her Zygon form. Pat screams in agony and tells the Zygon that she’s killing her, but eventually Grakus is successful and the necklace device breaks free. Unfortunately it’s a little messy as Grakus had to tear open Pat’s throat, but it doesn’t matter as they now have whAt They need.

The Doctor is furious with Trevor for having given such a dangerous item to a human being, and Trevor admits that he was a fool, but says once the gift was given it couldn’t be taken back. An alarm sounds and the voice of Urtak announces the commencement of phase five. He orders the crew to begin arming the warheads, and Trevor realises this means they’ve obtained the necklace from Pat somehow. To do so may have been fatal and if his wife is dead he no longer cares what his people do to this world. The Doctor still does, so he tells Trevor to join him and they race towards the control room.

The crystal lattice is put in place and the warheads start stirring from their long sleep. Urtak is surprised by the power he can feel and realises this is why Warlord Haygoth tried to keep the truth from them, but now the Earth will soon be theirs. On the floor, a weakened Pat calls out for help from Lucie, but the woman who responds isn’t even human. Suddenly another alarm sounds and the Zygons report that The ship is over stimulated and the power is starting to affect all their systems. Urtak orders them to shut the power down, but Grakus says she warned that only Warlord Haygoth would know the correct engorgement ratios to discharge the warheads. Urtak orders her to fetch Haygoth, but then the door opens and Trevor enters, still in his human form. Pat calls to him and he rushes over to her. She’s struggling to breath and the Doctor joins them, telling Trevor to press down hard on the wound. Pat promises she didn’t let the necklace go willingly and that They had to rip it from her, but Trevor knew that already. Pat thinks she’s dying and asks the Doctor whether Lucie was ever real and from the future, or just a Zygon in disguise. The Doctor assures her Lucie is real and promises to save them both. Pat stares At The Doctor and says she can see death and disaster all around him, then she can see the darkness and she stops talking. The Doctor tells Trevor he’s sorry, but Pat has gone.

Urtak tells Haygoth they should waste no more time on these humans and orders him to focus the crystal lattice and set their warheads free to destroy this world‘s atmosphere. Grakus tries to tempt Haygoth and tells him he can have as many Earth females as he desires, perhaps even beginning with Pat’s niece Lucie. The Doctor asks Trevor to disconnect the device so he can take it somewhere safe where the Zygons won’t be able to find it. Trevor warns him the lattice would fuse with his flesh and then he, like Pat, would become just another trigger mechanism, another ticking time bomb. Urtak tells Haygoth it’s their destiny to use the device and says he’s been blinded by his love. Trevor appears to agree with him and says there’s nothing left for him here now that Pat is dead. He asks his Zygon brothers to forgive him, then he urges the Doctor to go to the body-print chamber and wake his friend. The other Zygons protest and says they should kill him now, but Trevor orders them to be quiet. He asks the Doctor to take Lucie and leave the ship, then warn the Earth people what will befall them and tell the rest of the galaxy that The Zygons have made their comeback and that it was they who set this world aflame. Urtak agrees triumphantly and the Doctor leaves quickly. Trevor reverts back to his original form and Urtak says they are now on the brink of fulfilling their mission. Trevor says he’s triggered the warheads, then he turns to the Skarasen manipulator. Urtak believes he’s sending the beast to tear the Doctor and his friend to pieces, just as they thought they were about to escape, and the other Zygons congratulate him on his cruelty. Trevor orders the Skarasen to attack…

The Doctor tries to revive Lucie from the body-print machine, but she doesn’t respond to him until he shouts at her that this isn’t one of her endless Sunday morning lie-ins. Slowly she starts to wake up and is horrified to find herself encased in what looks like a womb. He helps her out and she nearly collapses from pins and needles. They hear a terrible bellowing and the Doctor tells her it’s a giant sea monster. They run for their lives as the ship starts to shudder all around them.

In the control room, the Zygons can’t believe what’s happening as the Skarasen starts attacking their ship. Urtak pleads with Haygoth to call the creature off, but the Warlord refuses to listen and insists that his name is Trevor. He reverts back to his human form and informs the others that he’s instructed the Skarasen to attack the warheads. The Zygons accuse him of betraying them and warn that The warheads are primed and ready. Trevor knows this and says that once the warheads are damaged they’ll vent their contents, releasing the biochemical manipulators into the ship. They can hear the spaceship collapsing around them and they accuse Trevor of murdering them all. Urtak orders his brothers to surround Trevor and they readily sting him to death…

The Doctor urges Lucie to move faster. He tells her Trevor has succeeded in saving the planet and then he realises the real Lucie never even knew Trevor was actually a Zygon in disguise. She’s understandably confused, but he tells her they don’t have time to discuss it now. In about 30 seconds this tunnel is going to flood with water from the Grasmere. Lucie says she now understands why Pat never mentioned the fact that she was married and she can’t wait to see her again. The Doctor is about to break the news when they see a torrent of water rushing towards them and they run…

The Zygon group finishing stinging Trevor, but they’re shocked when he simply refuses to die. He tells them they’ll all be dead soon enough and their time has gone. Urtak insists that it’s their destiny to triumph, but Trevor says their race doesn’t deserve to live any longer and he feels they’ve already done enough damage to the people of this world. The controls indicate that The systems are reaching critical overload. Trevor dedicates his actions to his beloved wife Patricia – and then the entire ship explodes around them.

Back At The guest house, Lucie brings tea for the Doctor and says she‘s put six sugars in it, just how he likes it. She guesses they still have a couple of hours before the other guests wake up and start clamouring for breakfast. The Doctor tells her the body-print machine in the cellar has crumbled to dust, as has the frozen dead body of the real Trevor that was inside it. Lucie is sorry the Zygon Trevor has gone too, but the Doctor says no one could have survived the implosion under the lake. Lucie wonders how they’re going to tell Aunty Pat what happened, so the Doctor steels himself to tell Lucie the truth. Lucie begins to suspect the Doctor has bad news and she paces around the room in frustration. She insists Pat must have survived or else she wouldn’t have been able to meet her in the future. She knows for a fact that Pat is still knocking around in 2007, but the Doctor says that isn’t necessarily the case. Lucie begins to cry and asks about the Web of Time, but he tells her the Web is resilient and events can be reshaped. If Aunty Pat lived a quiet and unobtrusive life, never got married, never had children and never did very much of anything, then history could blink and miss her. Lucie gets upset and remembers this is how she described Pat herself. The Doctor says Pat was a real heroine, a real star. Lucie wants to stay here until the morning, just in case, so the Doctor tells her to go up to bed. I

t’ll be dawn soon so the Doctor takes his tea out onto the terrace to watch the sun coming up over the lake. As soon as he’s sure he’s alone, he tells Trevor he can come out from his hiding place in the bushes. The Doctor’s glad at least someone survived this terrible time, but Trevor is sorry there was no chance to save Pat. Trevor says he plans to use his last reserves of strength to disguise himself one last time and adopt a human form. The Doctor didn’t know Zygons could do that without their body-print technology, but Trevor says he can create an image that will last a couple of decades of its own accord, but only if he stays inside that form forever. It means he’ll no longer be able to be a Zygon, but that’s no loss as he’s ashamed of his brethren. The Doctor says they were simply trying to survive, the same as anyone, but they let their desires impinge too harshly upon those who got in their way. Trevor says he’s content to become human for the rest of his days – then he proceeds to transform into a perfect replica of his wife, Pat. He thinks Lucie will be pleased as she’ll think Pat is alive after all. She says she’ll see Lucie in the morning and asks the Doctor not to tell her the truth. The Doctor says he doesn’t like lying, but he reluctantly agrees. Haygoth will get to live out his quiet, obscure life in peace – and so in a sense will Aunty Pat. The Doctor says they should go back inside before he changes his mind.

coming soon

The Zygon Who Fell to Earth was the sixth release of the second series of Big Finish Productions’ The New Eighth Doctor Adventures audio stories.

The Doctor drinks his tea with six sugars.

Auntie Pat last appeared in Horror of Glam Rock. This story explains that The Auntie Pat who Lucie knew in her past (before she began travelling with the Doctor) was actually a Zygon copy.